In general, the goods-display self of such places as convenience stores is installed to always display goods at the very front so that customers may identify and select them easily. In case a customer takes out a piece of goods from the very front of the shelf installed as described above, the next piece of goods in the order of display again slides down to the very front by the slope inclined with a certain degree. On the shelf surface in contact with the bottom of goods, multiple rollers are installed. These rollers not only makes the empty space created by the first-out goods filled with the next ones rolling down but also has a dividing guide member installed in the row section of goods so that goods may be displayed in a row.
For example, “Showcase Shelf” of Korean Registered Patent publication No. 1020120094295 can easily connect the roller units with multiple rollers in the direction of length or width. Thus, it not only is unlimited by the change of installation spaces but also enables the direct assembling and use of injection-molded products without separate processing, which may improve the productivity through minimization of processes. The prior art is equipped with the roller units with multiple rollers and the wing part with fixing pins on the outside bottom of end caps combined with the roller units. The said wing part prepared at each of the roller units and end caps is placed on the inserting part with a fixing groove prepared on the inner bottom of other roller units and end caps located next to the previous ones.
At this time, each said fixing pin and each said fixing groove are combined to prevent each other from breaking away. And the vertical wall, which keeps goods in a line, is fixed and installed by inserting both ends into the fixing piece formed at the top of end caps installed at both ends of roller units.
The said conventional showcase shelf is continuously assembled by using the method of inserting the fixing pin formed at each bottom wing part of the roller units and end caps into the fixing groove at each bottom wing part of other neighboring roller units and end caps. Due to the characteristics of such a structure, in case a roller unit is separated from another neighboring roller unit, it is impossible to assemble them again. In this case, reassembling requires one more roller unit, which causes an increase in the unit cost. Since the space for each size of goods is controlled by connecting separate simple guide members, the conventional showcase shelf has a problem that the slope of the shelf should be increased for a smooth movement of goods with a large contact area. In addition, since the said showcase shelf is a structure to be assembled by connecting a roller unit and another neighboring roller unit face-to-face in the direction of length and width, they may be separated from each other in case a large load is created after the combination. Thus, in order to prevent this problem, a net type of support frame, separately fabricated, is required, which causes a unit cost increase.
In addition, the “showcase shelf” of Korean Registered Patent Registration No. 1008289660000 registered by the applicant(s) of the present invention can connect a single or multiple roller units containing multiple rollers by separating the conventional structure of an integrated casing into a fixed frame and a connecting frame. This shelf not only saves the manufacturing cost of molds and the cost of materials but also improves the productivity through minimization of processing and assembling processes and makes goods slide even more smoothly. The said prior art consists of a roller unit equipped with multiple rollers inserted at the top, a pair of fixed frames surrounding the roller unit along both length-direction sides of the roller unit, and end caps screw-connected with both ends of the fixed frames.
The said conventional showcase shelf has a structure of aligning the screw holes formed on both sides of end caps to the screw connecting holes drilled at both ends of fixed frames and then connecting them with a connecting screw. Thus, the number of screw hole drilling processes and the number of screw assembling processes for the said fixed frames and end caps increases to cause an increase in unit manufacturing cost. Since the end caps should be molded in a variety of sizes to meet the number of combined roller units, the shelf ha a problem of creating too much cost in mold manufacturing. In addition, since the said showcase shelf has a structure of arranging face-to-face fixed frames continuously and the space control due to the size of goods is possible only by selective combination of guide members, which play a role as a simple divider, the said shelf again has a problem that due to the large contact area, the slope should be increased for a smooth movement of goods.
And a showcase shelf composed of roller units, end caps, guide members, and support members as shown above, is proposed in Registered Utility Model Publications No. 20-02929850000, No. 20-03116120000, and No. 20-03272370000, which were registered by the applicant(s) of the present invention. Since the said showcase shelf also has a structure of mutual assembling and connection, the combined structure is complicated, requires connecting screws for combination and has a large number of assembling processes and parts, which causes an increase in manufacturing cost. Since the structure controls the space for each size of goods by the movement of guide members mostly formed separately. it has a problem that the durability decreases.